


Hey I Didn't Need To Know That

by PoisonHemloc



Category: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol, Gen, Recreational Drug Use, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, if you're reading this on an app an not ao3 they're making money off my work so. dont., sex mention, there's implied isshin/sculptor but you get to use your imagination
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-13
Updated: 2019-11-13
Packaged: 2021-01-30 05:34:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21423004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoisonHemloc/pseuds/PoisonHemloc
Summary: "That is my grandfather" "Well that's my dad" "Honestly both of these people have been better father figures to me than my foster father"Genichiro and Emma rope Wolf into some unhealthy coping mechanisms due to Isshin being himself.
Comments: 9
Kudos: 53





	Hey I Didn't Need To Know That

**Author's Note:**

  * For [StrayLiger](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrayLiger/gifts).

> This is based on a conversation with StrayLiger: https://poisonhemloc.tumblr.com/post/188986824856/the-stray-liger-poisonhemloc  
I was laughing about it for two days at work and then had to write this to get it out of my system before I could work on my other wips so I'm inflicting it on all of you.

“Emma, please don’t be here to tell me Grandfather slid out last night.” Even before Isshin’s health had dropped, and well before Emma had found a cure, the elder Ashina Lord would try and slide out of the castle once or twice a week to go visit a… “friend.” 

Genichiro did his best to keep his imagination from going further than that; starting in his teens, he’d started noticing the looks Isshin got from some of the retainers and the castle staff, and after a talk with Gyoubu it hadn’t been hard to put two and two together. With Isshin in his sixties now Genichiro was concerned about him breaking something on his weekly escapades, which was not a conversation Genichiro wanted to have with anyone, and had asked Emma to insist on stopping him; but Isshin had spent a long time sneaking out of the castle and a pair of twenty-five year olds were not about to stop him.

“Sorry, Genichiro. I left for two minutes because an apprentice needed my help and he was gone.”

“Right. Well. I’m probably spending the rest of my day drinking, so what do I need to know right now?”

“He probably wasn’t in the castle, since he wasn’t back by the time I arrived to check in with him this morning.”

“Small mercies, then, maybe I can look everyone here in the eyes this week.”

“I’m not sure where he went, though-”

A totally emotionless voice cut her off. “Lord Isshin was at the Dilapidated Temple last night.” Genichiro walked to the edge of the lookout platform and leaned over; Kuro’s shinobi, Wolf, was sitting on the roof. It had snowed enough earlier to leave a powdery dusting on the roof and apparently on him as well. His head was resting in his good hand as he stared downward into the moat.

“How do- oh.” Genichiro looked back at Emma, who had been slightly faster on the uptake and had sat down with her head in her hands. She spoke without moving.

“Wolf, I could have lived my entire life without knowing that.”

“I almost walked in on them, Lady Emma.” He moved slightly, dislodging snow, and looked up at Genichiro. “I...have a favor to ask. I was stabbed through the chest at the Hirata Estate and I lost my memories of the days preceding the event. Could you-”

“Wolf just get drunk like the rest of us are going to.” Emma still hadn’t moved since she sat down.

“I can’t drink alcohol, Lady Emma. I thought we had that discussion.” Genichiro had spent several minutes struggling against his imagination and finally beat it down enough to talk.

“I have several substances that have close enough effects but no alcohol.” He reached down to the shinobi. “Truce? For today, so we can all go get wasted and hope that wipes our memories?” After a moment he took the proffered hand.

“Truce.”

Isshin snuck back into his quarters only half an hour later than he normally would have woken up, feeling the unfamiliar thrill of sneaking around in a place you supposedly own. Emma would come and have a discussion with him again about staying in the castle and avoiding bone fractures at his age and he had listened to it so many times he could probably recite it back to her. It always amused him that despite the fact that she had to know what he was doing, she never directly addressed it. 

She hadn’t come in within the first ten minutes of him returning, so he started on what paperwork he still was required to; various retainers and Genichiro handled the bulk of it, but the Nightjar still only answered to him and that included wages.

She hadn’t come in when he finished with that, nor when he visited the dojo to check on the younger samurai’s progress. By then it was nearly noon; now he was concerned. Emma had never been this late to check in any morning, but after she had cured his illness she tended to be more cautious about checking his health, in case it was only temporary. 

She was not in her operatory. An apprentice informed him she had left easily half an hour before she usually checked on him. He realized as he left he hadn’t seen Genichiro, either, but Genichiro tended to spend a few hours drinking in his room if he knew Isshin had been visiting a partner the night before and that was normal for him. But with no other leads, Isshin headed towards Genichiro’s room.

There was no response to his knock, but he heard someone inside. Carefully, he pushed the door open and leaned in slightly.

Genichiro and Emma were sitting next to each other against one wall, passing a sake jar between themselves. There was an unopened jar next to them; the writing on both declared it unrefined sake, good at getting you drunk quickly. For some reason Sekiro was lying on the ground next to Emma; from this spot Isshin could see his pupils were huge, but he was staring at the far wall and made no motion of recognizing Isshin entering. There was a much smaller jar next to him the Isshin recognized as one of the formerly illegal substances that he had unbanned following the rebellion, as long as it stayed in small quantities. 

Genichiro had probably taken it from Isshin’s own stores, which he had thought Genichiro didn’t know about. Neither Emma nor Genichiro had seemed to notice him; the jar they were passing back and forth was probably mostly empty. He quietly walked back out and then realized what had probably happened.

Sekijo had been helping Sekiro with the prosthetic; the younger shinobi had probably shown up at the temple last night after Isshin had. And he had probably told Emma and Genichiro where Isshin was. Emma had never stopped thinking of the retired shinobi as a father, Genichiro was acting like himself, and Sekiro… it was hard to know how much knowledge he had outside his job as a shinobi. 

Well, that was unfortunate for all three of them. But. Isshin had the rest of the day free, and if his doctor and his grandson were going to be drinking he was going to take advantage. He was going to let Kuro know his shinobi would be busy for the rest of the day and possibly part of tomorrow depending on how much of that stuff he’d taken, then go see who was free in the castle. Isshin grinned and walked off as he heard the thump of a sake jar finally fall from a hand too drunk to hold it, and decided to first send one of Emma’s apprentices to babysit and make sure none of them died.

  
  


The next day Emma’s apprentice, beyond making sure they both lived through getting blackout drunk and Wolf survived his trip, had been kind enough to brew the tea Emma thought made the best hangover cure. She hadn’t been focusing on finding something better and was silently deciding that had been a bad decision. Wolf was noticeably better off than the younger two and unusually he was the first one to speak.

“If this happens again I think I’d rather just be stabbed.” Genichiro, eyes half shut against the light from the window, glared. 

“You’re too loud, get out” was a quiet mumble; Wolf drained his tea but continued speaking in a much quieter voice.

“I need to check in with Lord Kuro; Emma, if he asks, I was assisting you yesterday.”

“Not going to tell him the truth, shinobi?” Genichiro was drinking his third cup and had seen no improvement.

“I am his retainer. That is not a discussion for me to have. Since you and Isshin are his closest living relatives and you are closest in age I’d say that is  _ your _ discussion to have, Lord Genichiro. Should I tell him you are coming?” Wolf stood, putting his cup down, and nodded to Emma before walking towards the door.

“ _ Please _ lie to Kuro.” Was heard before he left and he nodded and shut the door as quietly as he could.

Emma left shortly after to recover in her own quarters. Genichiro planned to spend the rest of the day sleeping off his hangover when he heard his door open and groaned.

“Grandson, we need to talk about your coping mechanisms.” Isshin was grinning slightly as he knelt; he was talking quietly for him, but that was still louder than Genichiro could deal with.

“Emma has ordered you to use a cane while walking, stop drinking sake, stay on bed rest, and if you’re going to the dojo not to spar with anyone, Grandfather.  _ And _ stop sneaking out at night. All that even after she cured your illness. My coping mechanisms are not the issue here.” No response for several minutes. Genichiro looked up and his bloodshot eyes met Isshin’s one, currently trying to decide how to respond. 

“I will talk to you tomorrow.” Deciding to give himself time to think about it, then. Isshin left and Genichiro went back to trying to recover.


End file.
